Marvin D. Boland Photograph Collection

Selected photographs from the collection.

Boland was a commercial photographer who came to Tacoma in 1915 and lived there until he died with his camera in hand in 1950. His photography documented businesses, parades, schools, clubs, buildings, events, and people. He photographed mill workers, movie stars, race car drivers, shipyard workers, waitresses, grocers, bankers, convention goers, kids, bathing beauty contestants, Warren G. Harding and Will Rodgers.

He was the official photographer for Fort Lewis during and after World War I. His sports photography includes baseball games, boxing matches, football games, the Tacoma Speedway, golf, Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey. Boland's specialty was the panorama print using the circuit camera. The collection includes hundreds of these long negatives depicting the diversity of Tacoma life as a microcosm of the nation between World Wars I and II.

Additional Information:

Shadow, Color and Light - A Guide to the Tacoma Public Library's Photography Archive, which includes images by Marvin D. Boland.